Saturday, November 27, 2010

Well, if there was ever a time to use THIS post-loss healing picture, it's now.

What's that you say? You're still feeling down after Tosu's 7th consecutive victory in The Game? We thought so. That's why Andy found this (although it took a lot of restraint for me to not re-post this video after the embarrassment today):

Okay, folks, there's going to be a lot of chatter out there in the coming days on what happens next for Michigan's program. Might as well get it started here. Does Rich Rod deserve another year?

Let's do a quick analysis of our situation: The offense is spectacular against poor teams. It struggles against teams with a pulse. The defense is THE WORST defensive unit in the country. Our special teams, highlighted by our field goal kicking expertise is non-existent.

There are basically 3 phases to this game -- and we are good (against bad teams) in one.

Boobies boobies kitties boooobiiees.. oh uh (cough)sorry. No RR does not deserve another year. Brandon scared me a little bit during the game in an interview because he said the football team would be evaluated after the bowl. To me that means we could miss a shot at Harbaugh. RR needs to be removed now with Harbaugh flying in after Stanford's game tonight. I'd bet he will have this turned around in two years. If not my only retort to people pointing out factual arguments against him will be that they in fact have no facts and they are "haters."

Things I learned while watching the game on ABC:1. If you eat Doritos you will have a cocaine-LSD experience.2. If you pull on your damaged car hard enough, you can straighten out all your dents.3. If RR coaches next year, I'll need truckloads of Smirnoff.(i'd like Harbaugh, but it won't happen. I vote for Charlie Strong.)

For the first time I went and did something else with a full quarter to go. I've been saying that the offense was a sham for weeks. We are in real trouble folks. Half that team is too small to get much bigger. I'd take the Hat and be thrilled at this point. Hell, where's Brady Hoke? Anyone watching our bare cupboard throwing it down south?

Yeah, the 7 points is to me the most damning thing today. The special teams are a shambles, the D is the worst in M history (after '08 and '09) and the vaunted O struggles against good teams (until they open up 20 pt leads). And all this cupboards were bare talk by the RR apologists is almost funny. All those top 10 recruiting classes but we play like SMU it's first year back after receiving the Death Penalty.

I must be getting getting old, nothing those two young ladies could do--and I mean nothing in all their combined carnal inventory--could make me feel better. The kittens do help, though. Thank God for that.

I was of a particular camp regarding this matter, my own. If I was the AD at Michigan I would evaluate my priorities in regards to the football program and decide where I want to see the program in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years and I would ask myself, "Is the current head coach the man who is going to take us where I want to be?" With the impending beatdown in Columbus looming, I have added an asterisk to my own conclusion, and perhaps from it received a moment of clairvoyance as to what it is Dave Brandon is thinking. Aside from his plausible future decisions, I have internally debated the following problems, and their conditional solutions and come up with this:

1- The defense is a mess. Personally I cannot make a comprehensive conclusion about the competence of Greg Robinson's coaching ability as Michigan's defensive recruiting under R2 has been abysmal, and Gerg has been left with pickens to craft a collossus, or even competence. Nonetheless, R2 himself has shown a perceived lack of attention and know how, as well as a meddling presence that has served only to hinder the defense by his insistance on using the 3-3-5, frankly the wrong base formation for Big 10 football. No chances can be taken if we expect to win. A new coordinator is required on that side of the ball, one with a proven track record of turning tough situations around, who runs a 3-4 or 4-3, and is given autonomy to select his own staff and run the defense the way he sees fit. R2 is to stay out of the defensive schematics, only dictating philosophy as it pertains to game time situations. Recruiting on that side of the ball must pick up!

2- THE GAME is very important, and OSU's record breaking personal streak is particularly embarrassing and needs to stop... NOW.

Under these conditions I would grant R2 a fourth year: A new D Coordinator with the right to choose his own staff and run things the way he sees fit, and R2 must beat OSU in 2011 or he is gone.

But I feel Dave Brandon may have something else up his sleeve. During the telecast Sean McDonough mentioned that our AD has refused to endorse R2 at this point stating something to the effect, "I refuse to endorse any coach during the season. I will sit down with the President, the coach, and other members of the University after our bowl game at the end of the season to evaluate our program." Sean McDonough went on to say that he thought this was poppycock as Brandon endorsed John Beilein earlier this week as the right man for the basketball job.

My personal asterisk added, when I considered the ultimate long term vision of Michigan Football, may just be what Dave Brandon has been considering all along. By publicly waiting until after the bowl game to "evaluate" the program and the head coach as a whole, Brandon is off the hook in terms of answering questions about the fate of R2 even though you can guarantee that not a day goes by that he does not evaluate R2 and the football program. Waiting until the bowl game is over allows him to potentially announce a change of direction just days away from (or if he's even smarter, which I think he is) right after the Rose Bowl which Stanford is likely to participate in against Big Ten winner Wisconsin. This would avoid the problem encountered in 2007 when it was obvious UofM wanted Les Miles, before Lloyd Carr announced his retirement before SEC play was over, and then as insider's in the program whisper, thwarted his rival's hiring by releasing information regarding his status as UofM's potential head man hours before Les Miles was due to lead his LSU Tigers in the SEC Championship game.

By waiting until after the bowl game Dave Brandon will face a maximum of a week of heated media scrutinization regarding the status of R2, allowing Jim Harbaugh to complete his season with Stanford, and enjoy the Rose Bowl experience before Brandon actively wooes Harbaugh back to his Alma Mater.

Harbaugh is my asterisk, my long term vision for Michigan football. With a word from him, I would replace R2. He understands Big Ten smashmouth football (something he does very well at academic elite, and football interest-challenged Stanford). He recruits geniuses and tough guys at a whirlwind pace. He would reunite a torn fanbase who honestly is partially to blame for R2's lack of success, and he would provide a spark underneath a stagnant and struggling program that R2 has tirelessly worked to reestablish even if he is not there yet. I believe Michigan wants to compete for Big Ten Championships every year, and even reach for national titles constistently the way Jim Tressel has done at Ohio State. I, and I am beginning to believe Dave Brandon views Rich Rod is the right man for the job, but perhaps not the best. That man is Jim Harbaugh.

No doubt we're depressed but at least we're not Ohio State. How depressed they must be. They have (according to many of their fans) the most overall talent ever and they can't even get to the Rose Bowl, let alone the BCS championship game. Never has so little been done with so much!

Jim Harbaugh beat mighty USC with a new and weak Stanford team, after making comments about Pete Carroll in his first year in a wacky 2007 that was probably the upset of the year even over UM Appy State as Stanford was a 42 point underdog. He wouldn't lose to Tressell three years in a row. He grew up with this, he lives this. This game inevitably means more to someone who grew up inside the rivalry than someone who came from another rivalry.

If, after three years under a head coach, a team cannot be competitive with its principle rival and cannot be competent at special teams play and still cannot manage ball security, penalties, or tackling, then--yes--fire that coach. I don't care if his name is Rich, Jim, Bo, Fielding, or Vince, he should be fired; the bottom line is that coach can't coach.

There are plenty of coaches out there for whom success is almost immediate.

I don't understand all this desperation for Harbaugh. He was all too happy to casually throw us under the bus for his own benefit. What kind of "Michigan Man" does that? He's not the only fish in the sea.

That said, I'd like to see one more year of RR with a new DC (and hopefully some attention to special teams). The offense is good, not perfect, but more than encouraging. Denard is still a first-year starter and a true sophomore. If we can muster even a mediocre defense, we could win 10 games and continue to progress.

P.S. You can't consider the offense completely separately from the defense. They were under tremendous pressure to score EVERY time they took the field. There was no kicking game to support them. I think they accomplished a great deal this year.

last week was senior day in A2. we had maybe a dozen kids. 3 of them starters. maybe another 3 who contributed. maybe one who has a shot at playing on Sundays. those were Lloyd's kids.

senior day in Columbus? 24. half of them start or play. half of them headed to a shot at the NFL.

even if you throw Mallet & Boren into the mix, the gap between our senior talent and tosu's is dramatic.

and R2 didn't do THAT, ok?

we've been losing to tosu for decade. Lloyd "got" the rivalry. he "lived" it. he was a "Michigan Man". that didn't make our players better. he still went 1-6 in his last 7 games against tosu.

we lost today because of a talent gap. a significant gap in experience on top of that. it started 10 years ago. it didn't happen over night. you don't fix that over night. you don't fix it in just a couple of years.

so if you don't like R2's offense (and i assume you wouldn't want Auburn or Oregons' offense either, right?) fine, fire him. you wanna fire him for only being 7-5, and that's just not good enough for Michigan? go ahead and fire him. i shan't argue.

but if you wanna fire someone for why we're so far behind tosu? you need to hop in the DeLorean & go back to 2005, when our recruiting began its steep nose dive.

You say this had been coming/happening for 10 years before he came. But...

In LC's last 10 years (98-07), he won or shared 4 Big 10 titles, went to four BCS bowls (3 Rose and 1 Orange) and only ONCE in those 10 years did he have 3 B10 losses or finish worse than 3rd in the conf ('05, 5-3, tie for 3rd). Think about that - the man NEVER FINISHED WORSE THAN 3RD in the league.

In addition, one of those non-title 2nd place finishes was '06 when we basically were in the BCS title semis where we lost by three to OSU on the road less than 24 hours after Bo died.

Did the 1-6 record against OSU in Tosu's last 7 sting? Of course. But even there, all but really one of the games were close as the losses were by 6, 5, (14 pt win) 16, 4, 3 and 11.

So to say there was some great talent gap is hogwash. It was a couple plays and bounces usually.

Even during The Horror of '07, we went into the Tosu game playing for the B10 title.

And if I wasn't running out, I'd love to get into the "bare cupboards" bs bandied about.

Look, was LC perfect? Of course not. No coach is. Look at Urban and Mack Brown - coming off a title run and now with a losing record - something LC NEVER HAD.

So we see how hard it is to maintain that high level year in and year out. And LC did that. RR simply has not done a good job of maintaining (and definitely not improving) the WINNINGEST PROGRAM IN CFB HISTORY.

All this crap about building a program - dude, this ain't Temple! That was done over the 128 years BEFORE YOU ARRIVED by guys like Yost, Crisler, Bo, Mo and, yes, LC.

Again, I have a lot more to say about this. And please don't take my passionate defense of LC/frustration as a personal attack on your opinion (as is so popular on so many damn M sites these days, unfortunately). I simply don't think RR has coached to the standards one should expect at Michigan.

PS During those "loss to Tosu years" of '01, '02, '05, '06 and '07, Michigan/LC went into the OSU game either playing for the B10 title or had a shot at it. Again, going into the final weekend of the regular season, even when it ended not how we hoped, we were at least playing for the title when it mattered - at the end of the season, not in Sept.

Who says Harbaugh would even want to come here? He is from CA, he has a good gig going and traditionally his family heads for the NFL........think DALLAS......

I have been a supporter of RR until this season, I struggle. With the kids he has, who would you bring in that could do something with them?

There is no quick fix, the question really is, where do we want the program to be in 5-10 years and make the decision based on that. If RR can get it done, then he should stay. I am not so sure that he can and I am fairly certain that he can't if he doesn't replace the Defensive Coord.

Or maybe you don't see the M players going into the NFL (if that's your measure of cfb talent) because RR isn't known for sending kids to the NFL. Check out the # of WVU players he sent to the NFL vs. how many Michigan sent.

Or maybe if Ryan M, Sam M, Don W, Mario M, Justin B and on and on didn't leave A2/go pro/transfer under RR there would be more in the NFL. Yeah, I've heard from some the ol' "they were going to "leave anyway" response. Then, again maybe they were going to cure cancer. Either way, we don't know.

And maybe I will do a post on the "drop off" in recruiting. You know, the not-lower-than-12th in Rivals.com ranking in LC's LAST FOUR RECRUITING CLASSES drop off.

Oh, and had you fired a 7-5 coach after 2005, history shows you'd have been wrong since we went 11-2 and came within 3 points of playing for the BCS title.

But to say the same in reverse is all speculation. There's no way of knowing what MIGHT happen, we can only base our decisions on what HAS happened. And thus far, there hasn't been much to justify continued confidence in the present course.

oh, that's right. 2006. the year we were exposed & pantsed by USC. you're right. that was glorious.

especially the way we followed that up w/ the start of the 2007 season.

yeah. Lloyd did a terrific job from 2004 on.

but, i like you too much to continue arguing over this. there's a scene in the movie "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" in which Capone & another mafioso are arguing about whether or not to kill the Northside gang. at some point Patsy looks at Al and says- "Alfonse, we shall not argue over the life of this useless man. kill him if you must and be done with it".

so, you wanna fire him? it's your blog. write all you like about firing him. i won't tell you you're wrong.

and if you wanna absolve Lloyd of any blame? go ahead. he's gone finally and can't do anymore harm anyway.

but answer me this- if we fire R2, hire Harbaugh, and then 3 years from now HE's 0-3 against tosu, are you gonna advocate firing HIM? or are you gonna blame it all on R2?

If RR is retained here is what happens next year.First of all note there is no Wisky or PSU on the schedule.Sept. 3 WESTERN MICHIGANSept. 10 NOTRE DAMESept. 17 EASTERN MICHIGANSept. 24 SAN DIEGO STATEOct. 1 MINNESOTA*Oct. 8 at Northwestern*Oct. 15 at Michigan State*Oct. 22 Bye WeekOct. 29 PURDUE* (HC)Nov. 5 at Iowa*Nov. 12 at Illinois*Nov. 19 NEBRASKA*Nov. 26 OHIO STATE*

Weeks 1-6 we roll right through cupcakes leading up to the MSU game. Michigan has X-player as a shoe in for the Heisman.

BAM! It all blows up against Sparty again and the world is ending, however this time we don't have PSU Sparty and Iowa all in a row so it seems the ship is righted against Big Ten Powerhouse Purdue. Then Iowa hammers us, but that's okay because the ship is righted the next week against Illinois.

My answer is yes. For no other reason than I am really frightened of becoming Notre Dame. What if we do fire RR and land Harbaugh? He may have a rough go of it the first year or two...I mean he'll be working with a defense with a bunch of 3-star recruits and an offense that doesn't fit his pro-style at all. But we'll understand and blame Rodriguez. Then in his third year what if he has a rough go of it too? Shows improvement, ends up 7-5, gets us to a bowl game, but loses to Mich St and OSU? Do we fire him too? What about the next coach? How long will top-tier coaches keep coming if we run them out of town after three years? Notre Dame hasn't been really relevant in almost two decades!

Who cares what Michigan was in 2005? Let alone in the 70's and 80's. All that matters is that right now we're a mediocre team that needs to get better. And if we don't let RR fix the mess he created we are taking a HUGE chance. If he's fired all we get is one more chance; if our next coach performs like RR and gets run out of town...bye bye two decades.

This is a tough question for me because I felt like we were close with Rich Rod but after watching what I watched of today's game, I realized we weren't even close. We held Ohio State for the first two posessions and what do we get out of it...a stall around the 35 and a fumble around the 16. I'm not sure that I blame Denard for either of those. Michigan needs a good 3 yard back and when I say that I mean a back that will get you 3 yards when you need them. Michigan also needs a kicking game...I don't think I've ever seen a case where all three parts of the kicking game were bad (field goals, punts and kickoffs).

Anyways, I think Rich Rod needs to go but I'm not sure who we can get to replace him. I'm not so sure about Harbaugh though.

rinmia,That is the best argument I have heard for keeping RR. But what Harbaugh would bring, if he wants the job, is stability. And maybe Brandon is thinking the same thing. But, if RR stays it will be another year of doubt and turmoil with recruits. I think Brandon is a highly intelligent man. If he fires RR then he has a replacement (namely JH) lined up. I know MSC said she would never hire Harbaugh as long as she was pres. but that was a knee jerk reaction to a knee jerk comment. Both of which can be smoothed over.The fact is it's time, and Harbaugh is the man. We can delay no longer.

RR has shown no ability to develop talent. Regardless of the objections by others, the talent to Michigan in the past 4 year is better than most in county. Michigan has been at least 3rd or 4th best recruited talent in the Big Ten.

@rinmia77: it comes down to that question of risk. what's riskier... firing richrod and betting that harbaugh will right the ship, or retaining richrod and letting him clean up his own mess. sure, harbaugh has been successful at another school. so was richrod. success in one place does not always mean success in another. so, past performance is merely one data point.

so, what's the risk with harbaugh? lose current players? not have the kind of players harbaugh needs, so limited success until he brings in "his guys"?

what's the risk with richrod? well, he's currently steering the ship, and the ship is careening out of control. i think the biggest risk is continued questionable judgement... going with a 3-3-5 with a DC who isn't familiar with that scheme and a large number of underclassmen in the defensive backfield. running a relatively thin and lightweight QB as if he's built like anthony thomas. senselessly burning devin gardner's redshirt instead of playing tate forcier early in the season. and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

people fear the unknown more than they fear the crappy status quo. why? because they know about the crappy status quo. they know what to expect. the unknown could be so much better, but it could also be worse.

my thought... you know (or SHOULD know) that this team is not going anywhere fast. let's not kid ourselves about the offense. it has talent and can score in bunches at times. BUT that apparently is only the case against weak opponents or in the 4th quarter when michigan's losing by 3+ scores. it's NOT the best offense in the nation. it's not even the best in the big 10. bringing back everybody (or almost everybody) on defense... so? does that mean they'll be the 98th rated defense next year? i won't talk about the kicking game because michigan doesn't have a kicking game.

there's a time to cut and run. a time to accept your losses, and move on. a time to accept that the leg is gangrenous, and it needs to come off.

@rinmia77: oh, one more thing regarding your fear of becoming like notre dame and they're coaching carousel... sure, that could happen. it could end up very much like notre dame, but it could also end up like florida. ron zook took over for spurrier. coached 3 years, and was gone. urban meyer was hired. they've had a down year this year, but i think everybody can agree that they've achieved a little bit of success.

As a Scarlet and Gray clad fan, I am torn. I do take delight in your current difficulties with the sweater vest. However, I also dispise what has happened to your program. Someone referred to the irrelevance of Notre Dame and the fear of being on that same road. Unfortunately, a valid concern I think. Minnesota is pretty irrelevant and at one time they and not tOSU was the other power in the Big ten with you. And I do think RR is responsible for the threat of that and here is why:

When Moeller replaced Bo, there was a continuity in the CULTURE of Michigan football. Same with LC. But RR changed all that. From my view in Ohio, it was the culture that resurrected the UM football program to prominence. Even when Bo or Gary or LLLLLLoyd (sorry couldn't help myself) had a struggle, the culture protected the program from going down Irrelevance Street. When RR changed the culture of the program, you lost that protection. Is Harbaugh the answer? Maybe. Although his cheapshot in the press a couple of years ago doesn't make it a guarantee.

The parallels with John Cooper are interesting. Except that Cooper had success outside the rivalry. Finishing #2 in the nation twice was some salve to a painful and not yet forgotten or forgiven flaw...his inability to find success versus you all. You don't have this and frankly, its hard to see where that is going to come from in the next year or two. Returning 9 starters on the #231 ranked defense may not be good news. So while I and the rest of Bcukeye Nation would like to see RR stick around until we can overcome the head start you had versus us in the Rugby era, it appears that what is best for you, the Big Ten and the Rivalry would be for a change.

1- Lloyd Carr is due some of the blame for the final 4 years he lost to OSU simply because he got soft. Mike Gittleson, the old strength and conditioning coach was criticized for "old methods" in his program, but it is known that Lloyd told him to back off the extreme workouts towards the end of his tenure. Gittleson was the S&C under Bo, and those boys never wore down like Lloyd's did famously in every game of 2005. It is due to the perceived lack of ability from Gittleson that we so warmly welcomed Mike Barwis, when in reality it was the poet and philosopher Lloyd who softened us up. For gosh sakes, who inspires a team using a story about a boxer in the depression. Try Braveheart or Gladiator. Lloyd drifted into nostalgia late in his tenure.

2- Bo always did support Lloyd, but his choice until the day he died was Gary Moeller for Head Coach. It is also rumored in the program that Lloyd went behind Bo's back toward the end of Bo's time and through Moeller's to put himself in better graces with the Athletic Department, seeking to supplant them.

3- Harbaugh would come here, and it would not take three years to beat OSU, no peering into the future or speculating. He would get it done like Obama and healthcare. Harbaugh grew up in A2 when his dad was coaching here, he guaranteed a win in C-bus and delivered, he is Michigan.

4- Lloyd did not grow up in the rivalry (he was a Northern Michigan player), though it can be argued he got it, he still got soft and that cost us all. Lloyd's schemes are similar to the vest's in that they are predictable, but the difference is that Lloyd GOT SOFT and couldn't make up for it through schematic advantage. For a historical perspective on my argument look no further than UofM in 1984 6-6. After the season Bo's confidence was shaken. He decided he must get back to basics by hitting everyday in spring ball for only the 2nd time in his tenure, working on all that football really is BLOCKING and TACKLING. The 1985 Wolverines finished 2nd in the nation, Bo's best finish. Btw, the only other year he hit everyday of spring ball working on toughness was 1969.

5- Blocking and tackling is a product of one thing, coaching! We are good blockers, but the worst tacklers in our program's history.

6- Lloyd did leave things a little barren with 2007 being a HEAVY senior team and did not leave a lot behind, R2's drastic scheme changes caused an exodus of what we had left.

7- This staff has struggled mightily to develop talent in all positions but QB, OL, and some WRs.

9- Illinois' defensive genesis this year under new coordinator Vic Koenig gives hope to those looking for quick turnarounds. Why? Because defense is all about TACKLING.

10- Even if Harbaugh comes in don't expect to struggle schematically. It is easier to go back to base football, than to mutate into a spread option, and I believe having served under Bo Jim understands that football is about two things, BLOCKING and TACKLING.

11- A new face and a shake-up catches everyone's attention including young, impressionable players because it stresses ACCOUNTABILITY.

12- Excuses don't lead to wins.

13- Believe it or not, I do like Rich Rod and I will root for him in the future no matter where he goes (save OSU, ND, or USC).

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